He wears basketball jersey No. 0, as in zero. No particular reason for the choice of number, but in one respect, it is significant:

Nigel Carter's chances of making a Division I college team from a major conference as a non-recruited walk-on arriving out of the blue at a fall tryout would have seemed to be just that, zero.

Instead, there he is, near the end of the Cal bench wearing that 0 jersey. He has been wearing it for three seasons now, in fact.

The Nigel Carter story is one of quiet perseverance and confidence, of a young man from a Los Angeles public high school who qualified for admission to Cal on his own merits and enrolled in school at the insistence of his academics-first mother instead of going to a prep school in Maine to polish his basketball game and draw the interest of recruiters.

"I don't think of myself as a walk-on," he said. "When you're out there, we're all men. Everybody is the same when you step on the court."

When Carter, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, stepped on the court against Southern Mississippi on Sunday , no one except perhaps himself expected the type of game he delivered in Cal's 80-78 loss to the Golden Eagles:

Playing the most minutes of his career, 21, he scored the most points of his career, 16, by nailing all four of his shots from three-point range. That showing probably will earn Carter more playing time, starting this afternoon against Cal Poly at Haas Pavilion.

"It felt good, but honestly, I expect it out of myself," Carter said. "If the coach wants me in there, I expect to play well. They're trying to give me more of an opportunity, so I'm trying to make the most of it. I'm always confident in myself. Even if I don't play, I still know what I can do."

Carter said several schools - namely Penn, Fresno State, USF, Seattle University and UC Riverside - expressed interest in him out of high school. But his mother, Monette McDonald, told him Berkeley it was.

"He's improved since he's been here," Montgomery said. "He was a pretty good player at Dorsey. He was recruited, but when he was able to get into Cal, his mother said, 'You're going to Cal.' Just to walk into school in the fall and hope you're going to be on the team is a bit of a gamble."

Yet that's just what Carter did, benefiting from a period in time in which the makeup of the team was not settled. It was the fall of Montgomery's first season with the Bears, 2008-09, and the coach said, "When we got here, things weren't exactly solidified, so we did have a walk-on tryout. Historically, Cal's had some walk-ons who were very valuable."

Montgomery spoke admiringly of Carter the student when he said, "He was good enough to get in without us doing anything."

Before his breakout game against Southern Miss, Carter had scored a total of 14 points in eight games. One game does not a season make, of course, and Carter remains a non-scholarship player. As such, he is not entitled to join his teammates for training-table meals, so Chipotle it is, his favorite Berkeley eatery.

"I feel one game doesn't make anybody," Carter said. "Coach Montgomery told me he doesn't know what the team is going to be like, so everybody has an opportunity to help the team."

Even those who have to come through the back door to get into the building.